Pulse generator



Oct. 22, 1957 w. H. BERCH I PULSE GENERATOR Filed Oct. 13, 1955INTERRUPTER L.

I I ll X I us 5 TA QT CON DUCTOQ IO 1PM (OUTPUT) United States Patent- OPULSE GENERATOR William Berch, Peufield, N. Y., assignor to GeneralDynamics Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application October 13;1955,'Serial No. 540,259

8 Claims, c1. sin- 132 Thisinvention relates topulse genera-torequipment, and'inore particularly to frequency converting means.

A first object of this invention i's-to' provide a new ing, which"shows-a relay interrupter or frequency conversion unit.

Briefiy', this circuit provides 'ineans for receiving pulses atafirst'frequenby; -In-theparticular case shown in the drawing, "this is130 I. P'. M. -Two step, counting relays 110 and"120'foIlow"these pulsesand produce new outgoing pulses; at a ditfer'en't rate. In the caseshown in the drawing, this is 101. PJM'.

In greater detail', the circuitstarts to' function-when asuitable'ground 'rnarking (not shown) is connected to theconductormarked ST. This same ground marking may be used also tostartacommoninterrupte'r which generates pulses atanydesiredr'ate of speed,for example, at 30 I; Pi M. Any suitable type of'c'ornr'non interruptermay be usedfhowever, the drawing shows machine driven, cam controlledcontacts' 101 which open and close-at the prescribed rate. The firstpulse receivedfrorn interrupter contatxs lol isextended'through'contacts 112, 121, the upper winding o'f relay 120'and contacts 111 tobattery? Relay' 1'20 operates 'to its first step when energized overitsupper Winding. On this step it operates onlyits X" or preliminarycontacts 122. Ground is now-connected to both sides of thelower-windingof relay 120mb that-it may not operate to its second step.This circuit may be traced from tlie input conductor designated"30 I. P;M., through contact's ll2, 121, the lower winding'l ot relay 120; and Xor preliminary contacts lntothe start ground'conductor ST.

After a brief 'intervalde'terinined by the speed of the interrupter,"ground removed at contacts 101 from the input conductor. Relay120-nolonger has its lower'winding shuntedso that it is energized over itsupper and lowcnwindings in series to operate to its second step atwhichtimeall of its contacts are operated. This circuitniay be tracedfrom the startground conductorST, flrrough contacts n'z, the lower andupper windings of relay 120 in series; to battery atcontacts 111'.Conmcts'fll open-so that'relay120 rnay'not be influenced by. thenext'p'ulsef "Contacts 121a close to prepare an operating circuit for relay'110: Contacts 123 close to prepare a holding circuit for relay 110.

Nothing further Happens" until'th'e next ground pulse is receivedfrom'the'comm'on interrupter, When this happens, ground i s extendedfrom contacts 101, throug'li contac'ts 112, 121a, and the upperwindingdf relay to battery. Relay I10- opera'tes 'to its first step whenenergized over its upper winding. In this manner it closes only its X orpreliminary contacts Patented Oct. 22, 1957 2 114. The lowerwinding isshunted sincegroundis applied to both sidesof-it. This circuit maybetraced fromthestart ground-conductor ST through contacts 123, l14,-thelower winding of relay 110, operated contacts' 121a, rest contacts 112and the input. conductor to groundatthe common interrupter;

After another brief interval of time-,ground is removedfrom the inputconductorby the common inter.- rupter. When occurs the lower-winding ofrelay is no longer shunted. Relay 1 1.0 operates to its second step,/the circuit 'beingfrom groun'donthe start ground conductor,through-operated-contacts 123,- operated contacts '114, the lowerandupper windings of relay 110 in' series; tobattery- Relay 110 openscontacts/ 111. This removes the batterypotential which. was connectedwith relay 120.: -Re1ay120 is constructed so that it wi-ll hold whenenergized in series with-resistor R1. 'Therefore, relay doesnot fall atthis time-,- the holding-circuit being from battery, through resistorR1, the upperandlower windings of relay-120 in-series,'opera-tedcontacts 122 and the ground on the start conductor. -Contactsi 1 12.open to break the. orginal energizing ci-rcui-tfor rel-ay- 120; Contacts113 close: in preparation-forthe next pulse'tobe. received from; thecommon interrupter. Contacts'115 close,-also in preparation fortheground pulse, which is tobe received next. 1 I

After still -another 'brief'intervalof time, the third ground pulse:appearsonthe input conductor under'the control of earn 102. -Thisgroundmarking'is extended throughcontacts-11310 the letthand terminal of theupper winding ofirel-ay 120. -Re1ay- 120 is released since ground isalso-'connectedto the left-handterminal: of 'its lower winding.- -Thecircuitis front the start groundconductor through'contacts 122, thelower and-upperwindings ofi relay-120 series, contacts 113 and the inputconductor to ground at interrupter: contactsslli l When-relay'120releases," contacts'125' close and'a ground pulse istransmitted-over theoutgoing; conductor marked (Output) Relay110 has-itsoriginal;lockingspath broken when-contacts-123 open. However, contacts .124 closebefore contacts-123 open; hence, relay 1'10 continues to beheld over acircuit which maybe traced fromwground at contacts 101, over theinputconductor, contacts 115, 124, 114, and the lowerand upperwi-ndi-ngs-oftrclay 110 in series to battery. During-the period thatremains before contacts 101 open, the outgoingfpulseris transmitted fromground through contacts 125 and 116 to the output conductor.

After another brief interval of time the common inter= rupterremovesground from the 30 I. P. M. conductor: This causes relay 110 torelease. Contacts 116 operrto terminate the outgoing impulse. Both relay110 and relay 120 are restored at this time'so that the next pulseonco'more willbegin the cycle-of operation thatnwas just described.Hence, it is seen that three pulses received over the input conductorare required for causing the transmission-ofone'pulse over the outputeonductor; Hence, current which is pulsating at onerateof speed on theinput conductor isconverted to current. whiche-is pulsating at anotherrate of speed on the output [con-.- ductor. In this case-the ratio-oiinput to output is 3 to 1. I i

I: have shown; and? described a singlemodificationof. my invention inthe attached drawing- However, .it should be obvious to those skilled inthe art that a differ ent-ratio ofinput' to output rate of pulsespeedmay be produced bychanging the number of relays in'thecounfl ingcircuit. Therefor git is my object to claim 'not only the specificfeaturesshown in the-attached drawing, but also to claim 'allmodifications which may fall within the true spirit of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. A pulse generator comprising a predetermined number of countingrelays, a source of cyclically recurring 'pulses, means'for connectingsaid relays to-be' 'operated sequentially by said'pulses, an outputcircuit co'ntrolled by said relays, and means responsive to said relayscounting a number of pulses equa'l to one'more than s'a1d-predrive saidcounting relays to produce another series of cyclically recurringpulses, which'othe'r series is at a pulse speed that is dififerent thanthe pulse speed of said first mentioned pulses.

2. A relay interrupter comprising a source of cyclically recurringpulses, two counting relays, means for connecting said relays to bedriven by said pulses comprising means for operating and locking saidfirst relay responsive to the first of said pulses to be received, meansfor opcrating and locking the second of said relays responsive to thesecond of said pulses, means for releasing the first of said relaysresponsive to the third of said pulses, means responsive to the releaseof said first relay when said second relay is operated for transmittingan outgoing pulse, and means effective after transmission of saidoutgoing pulse for releasing said second relay.

3. A relay' pulse frequency converter comprising a source of cyclicallyrecurring pulses, two two-step counting relays, means for connectingsaid relays to be driven by said pulses comprising means for operatingand locking said first relay through its two steps responsive to thefirst of said pulse, means responsive to operation of said first relayfor preparing for operationof the second 'of said two relays, means foroperating and locking the'sec- 0nd of said relays through its two stepsresponsive to the second of said pulses, means for releasing the firstof said relays responsive to the third of said pulses, means responsiveto the release of said first relay when said second relay is operatedfor transmitting an outgoing pulse, and means responsive to terminationof said third pulse for releasing said second relay.

4. A relay circuit for converting a first frequency of signals into asecond frequency of signals comprising a source of cyclically recurringpulses; a plurality of counting relays; means responsive to theinitiation of a first of said pulses for preparing a first of saidrelays to operate, means for operating and locking said first relayresponsive to the termination of said first pulse; means responsive tooperation of said first relay for connecting the next of said relays tobe controlled by said pulses; meansfor repeating said cyle of operationfor each of said counting'relays, whereby the initiation of eachsucceeding pulse prepares the next relay for operation, the terminationof each succeeding pulse operates and locks the next relay, and theoperation of said next' relay connects the following relay in saidcounting chain to be controlled by the following pulse; means responsiveto operation of the last of'said relays for releasing the first of saidrelays; means responsive to said release of said first relay when theother of said relays are operated for transmitting an outgoing pulse;and means for thereafter releasing'all of said counting relays wherebysaid counting chain is returned to normal and is made ready to repeatthe process responsive to the receipt of the next of said cyclic pulses.i j 7 5. A relay interrupter comprising a source of cyclically recurringpulses; a plurality of two-step counting relays; meansresponsive to theinitiation of a first of said pulses for operating a first of saidrelays to one of its said two steps, means for operating and lockingsaid first relay on the other of its said two steps responsive to thetermination of-said first pulse; means responsive to operation of saidfirst relay to its said other step for connecting the next of saidrelays to be controlled by-said pulses;

means for repeating said cycle of operation for each of said countingrelays, whereby the initiation of each succeeding pulse operates thenext relay to one of its said steps, the termination of each succeedingpulse operates and locks the next relay on the other of its said stepsand the operation of each relay to its said other step connects thefollowing relay in said counting chain to be controlled by the followingpulse; means responsive to operation of the last of said relays forreleasing the first of said relays; means responsive to said release ofsaid first relay when the other of said relays are operated fortransmitting an outgoing pulse; and means for thereafter releasing allof said counting relays whereby said counting chain is returned tonormal and is made ready to repeat the process responsive to the receiptof the next of said cyclic pulses.

6. A relay interrupter comprising a source of cyclically recurringpulses, two counting relays, means for connecting said relays to bedriven by said pulses comprising means for operating said first relayresponsive to the first of said pulses to be received, means foroperating the second of said relays responsive to the second of saidpulses, means forreleasing the first of said relays'responsive to thethird of said pulses, means responsive to the release of said firstrelay when said second relay is operated for transmitting an outgoingpulse, and means efiective after'transmission of said outgoing pulse forreleasing said second relay.

7. A relay pulse frequency converter comprising a source of cyclicallyrecurring pulses, two two-step counting relays, means for connectingsaid relays to be driven by said pulses comprising means for operatingsaid first relaythrough its two steps responsive to the first of saidpulse, means responsiveto operation of said first relay for preparingfor operation of the second of said two relays, means for operating thesecond of said relays through its two steps responsive to the second ofsaid pulses, means for releasing the first of said relays responsive tothe third of said pulses, means responsive to the release of said firstrelay when said second relay is operated for transmitting an outgoingpulse, and means responsive to termination of said third pulse forreleasing said second relay.

8. A relay circuit for converting a first frequency 0 signals into asecond frequency of signals comprising a source of cyclically recurringpulses; a plurality of counting relays; means responsive to theinitiation of a first of said pulses for preparing a first of saidrelays to operate,'means foroperating said first relay responsive to thetermination of said first pulse; means responsive to operation of saidfirst'relay for connecting the next of said relays to be controlled bysaid pulses; .means for repeating said cycle of operation for each ofsaid count ing relays, whereby the initiation of each succeeding pulseprepares the nextrelay for operation, the termination of each succeedingpulse operates said next relay, and the operation of said next relayconnects the following relay 3 in said counting chain to be controlledby the following pulses; means responsive to operation of the last ofsaid relays for releasing the first of said relays; means responsive tosaid release of said first relay when the remaining relays are operatedfor transmitting an outgoing pulse; and means for thereafter releasingall of said counting relays whereby said counting chain is returned tonormal and is made ready to repeat the process responsive to the receiptof the next of said cyclic pulses.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,740,948 r McCre'ary -t Apr. 3, 1956

